1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an access network loaded with a V5.2 protocol in a wireless communication system and more particularly to a separate structure in which a datapath layer and a physical layer are separately loaded onto different boards in the access network loaded with the V5.2 protocol and to a method of communicating a protocol between the two boards respectively loaded with the separate physical and datapath layers.
2. Description of Related Art
Generally, a V5.2 protocol is a signaling interface rule between a system controller and a switching center in a wireless communication system. According to the V5.2 protocol, maximum 16 E1 links (1048 Kbps) each having a transmission rate of 128 Kbps can be used in a single interface and a protocol for protection of communication channels exists when more than one link is used.
The following explain concerns a connection structure between a public switched telephone network (PSTN) switching center and the access network loaded with the V5.2 protocol in the wireless communication system according to a prior art.
FIG. 1 shows the connection structure between the PSTN switching center and the access network loaded with the V5.2 protocol in the wireless communication system according to the prior art. An access network board 10 loaded with the V5.2 protocol is divided into a LAYER 3 110, a data link management layer 120, a datapath layer 130 and a physical layer 140.
The physical layer 140 of the access network board 10 is connected to a PSTN switching center 400 via 16 E1 links. Here, the LAYER 3 110 of the access network board 10 is composed of multiple protocols.
The multiple protocols comprises: a call process channel allocation section 111 for allocating a call process channel; an E1 link switching controller 113 for switching from a selected E1 link to another E1 link when the selected E1 link is out of order; an E1 link controller 115 for blocking or unblocking the E1 link according to a command of a manager; a user port management section 117 for managing a user port connected to the access network board 10; and a voice channel allocation section 119 for allocating a voice channel.
The data link management layer 120 of the access network board 10 manages data link (E1 link) connection with the PSTN switching center 400 and controls flow of data transmission according to a command of each protocol.
The datapath layer 130 of the access network board 10 supports relay mechanism with respect to protocol messages of the LAYER 3 110. The physical layer 140 is a transmission device for transmitting and receiving the protocols between the datapath layer 130 and the PSTN switching center 400 via the E1 links.
Although the V5.2 protocol provides maximum 16 E1 links per interface board according to the prior art, it is nearly impossible to design a system such that all the links are implemented in one board when the V5.2 protocol is actually applied to the system. In other words, according to the conventional access network board 10 loaded with the physical layer 140 connected to the E1 link, two E1 links are connected to one physical layer 140. To cover the 16 E1 links, the access network board 10 needs 8 physical layer boards. However, only two or three physical layer boards can be disposed per access network board 10 in an aspect of actually designing the physical layer 140 board.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a separate structure of a datapath layer and a physical layer within an access network loaded with a V5.2 protocol in a wireless communication system and a communication method between two boards separately having the datapath layer and the physical layer that substantially obviates one or more of the limitations and disadvantages of the related art.
An objective of the present invention is to provide a separate structure of a datapath layer and a physical layer within an access network loaded with a V5.2 protocol in a wireless communication system, wherein the datapath layer and the physical layer are separated in the access network board loaded with the V5.2 protocol and the separated datapath and physical layers are connected using a router, thereby facilitating the designing of the access network board loaded with the V5.2 protocol.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a method of communicating protocol messages between a board with the datapath layer and a board with the physical layer.
Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the following description, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the structure as illustrated in the written description and claims hereof, as well as the appended drawings.
To achieve these and other advantages, and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention as embodied and broadly described, in a connection structure between a PSTN switching center and a V5.2 protocol access network including a protocol board comprising a datapath layer and a plurality of physical layers, a separate structure of a datapath layer and a physical layer within the access network loaded with the 5.2 protocol in the wireless communication system, comprises: a plurality of physical layer boards with the plurality of physical layers separated from the protocol board and connected to the PSTN switching center via a plurality of E1 links; a routing section disposed between a group of the multiple physical layer boards and the protocol board with the datapath layer, for designating a protocol transmission path between the datapath layer in the protocol board and one of the multiple physical layer boards and for routing packet data including a protocol message between the designated physical layer board and the protocol board; and a controller for providing a control signal to the routing section to allow the packet data to be routed to the designated physical layer board or the protocol board via the routing section.
In another aspect of the present invention, a method of communicating a protocol between a protocol board having a datapath layer and one of multiple physical layer boards having multiple physical layers, comprises: a forward communication step of transmitting a packet including a message requesting connection, information designating an E1 link and a protocol message to the physical layer board via the routing section and determining whether or not an E1 link corresponding to the information designating the E1 link contained in the packet is normal so as to transmit the protocol message to the PSTN switching center via the corresponding E1 link if the corresponding E1 link is determined to be normal; and a reverse communication step of receiving a protocol message from the PSTN switching center via the corresponding designated E1 link and forming a packet for the protocol message if the received protocol message is normal so as to transmit the normal protocol message to the datapath layer in the protocol board via the routing section.
The forward communication step comprises the steps of: transmitting the packet including a destination address, a source address and the E1 link designating information from the protocol board to the physical layer board via the routing section for request of connection; activating an E1 link corresponding to the designating information contained in the transmitted packet and determining whether or not the corresponding E1 link is stable; forming a packet including state information denoting that the corresponding E1 link is stable and transmitting the packet including the state information of the corresponding E1 link to the protocol board via the routing section if the corresponding E1 link is determined to be stable; forming a packet including the protocol message to transmit it to the physical layer board via the routing section if the protocol board receives the packet including the state information of the corresponding E1 link; transmitting the protocol message contained in the packet to the PSTN switching center via the corresponding designated E1 link if the packet including protocol message is received by the physical layer board; and transmitting a packet including information denoting that transmission of the protocol message has been completed to the protocol board via the routing section if the transmission of the protocol message to the PSTN switching center is completed.
The reverse communication step comprises the steps of: receiving the protocol message and determining whether or not the protocol message is normal if the protocol message is transmitted from the PSTN switching center via the designated E1 link to the physical layer board connected to the designated E1 link; forming the packet by adding a header and an identifier to the protocol message if the received protocol message is determined to be normal and transmitting the packet to the protocol board. via the routing section; and analyzing the packet transmitted from the physical layer board to identify the identifier and the protocol message contained in the transmitted packet.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.